


Fallen Stars

by TrivialPursuit



Series: Black Family Values [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-07
Updated: 2013-04-07
Packaged: 2017-12-07 17:30:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/751145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrivialPursuit/pseuds/TrivialPursuit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black has fallen among the stars, no longer existing except in the legends and legacies their illustrious members have left behind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Stars

You're gonna rattle the stars, you are.

-John Silver, Treasure Planet

The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black has fallen among the stars, no longer existing except in the legends and legacies that their illustrious members have left behind. They are gone, but on the blackest of nights you can still find them, twinkling in the sky above.

There's Alphard, the Heart of the Serpent, the one who was ever-so popular but ever-so alone, who was blasted off the family tree for trying to be a proper uncle. The only one who never marries, never has children. Because that's what he is, the Solitary Heart. But, like the heart of the Hydra he is necessary, vital for life, heroes can chop off all the heads and they shall grow back, but aim for the heart and all is lost. Without him to even the scales, hold the balance, his family falls.

Cygnus, the Swan, the man who likes everyone to see, the one who has a host of daughters who are utterly perfect but no sons, no heir to call his own. Who dies completely and utterly alone.

Orion, who is constantly hunting but never catching his prize, who has only sons who are utterly and irrecoverably Black but who all leave him in the end, chained to the causes he has driven them to. Who's alone with only his half-mad wife and a deranged house-elf when he dies.

There's Bellatrix, the Beautiful Warrior, the Conquering Amazon, the one who they all knew would go out with a bang and who would never let herself disappoint. Who spent her life fighting for the only things her father would never give her; love, glory, power (But mostly power). She destroys all she holds dear for something that would never be. When she dies she is surrounded only by those who despise her.

Then there's Andromeda, the Chained Princess, thrown to the monsters by the ones she loves best. She never was in control of her destiny and she never will be. She falls in love, has a beautiful child and husband then has it all ripped away from her. She buries her husband, daughter, and son-in-law in the same year.

Sirius, the Faithful Dog, the brightest star in the sky, the boy who outshone them all yet disappointed everyone. A snake in lion's clothing. The rebel who attempted to satisfy nobody but himself and never even did that. The one who would have died for those he loved even when they did nothing but kick him. The one who slept with half of London but gave his heart away to the one girl he could never have. The 'white sheep' of the family, the one who ran away but never quite got away.

Regulus, the Black Prince, the Heart of the Lion, the one who stood alone, who hid his golden mane under slick scales and cunning smiles. The one who was pushed around on the chessboard by those he loved best, who sacrificed everything for everybody else. Who was never loved, only valued as another piece in an incredibly complex game. Who died alone with only rotting corpses for company. It was days before anybody even knew he was dead.

They explode (They always do), so like the stars they're named for. Some in brilliant supernovas for all to see and some disappear quietly, long gone before you even knew they were leaving.


	2. La Fleur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Above all else, Narcissa Malfoy is a survivor.
> 
> Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will.  
> \- Jawaharial Nehru

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because this didn't really fit in the first chapter.

See, that's the thing, isn't it? Narcissa was never really a Black. Sure she bore the surname for her first twenty-three years of life, and she had the beliefs to fit right in. But she never attacked life with the same blatantly vicarious disregard for anything standing in her way that her siblings and cousins did. Never lived like the whole world was her's to control (And it never was, Narcissa was content to be a minor player on the board so long as she would live to see the endgame).

She wasn't even a Black physically, she was fair while the others were dark, innocent when they were stained with blood, loving when they were cold and detached, patient when the others were impetuous, methodical while the others were wild. While they were stars, destined to shine and burn while she was a flower, slowly coming back to life after the hardships of each winter. They would fall from the skies they ruled with an iron grip while she would remain firmly rooted in the earth. Her son, she knows, is a star like his aunts, and no matter how much she wants to protect him from the world she knows that he too will burn out.

Above all else, Narcissa Malfoy is a survivor.


End file.
